Author's NoteMy friend is such a sweetheart. It's late right now and Ashley fell asleep. She said I could get on her comp. when she fell asleep, so here I am writing chap. 23. If I find any mistakes or out of characterness I'll fix it. If you find it tell me! And as always, Enjoy and review!

DisclaimerThis is Dye-my-hands-yellow, come to torment you with the bone-chilling fact that Dye-my-hands-violet doesn't own Life with Derek, I will never marry Michael Seater, and Ashley Leggat will never sign our breasts. Ha-ha.

Casey confronted him multiple times about her worries concerning Rachel. In her mind, Derek supposed, Rachel must seem like a threat. A threat to her chances of staying with him, her chances of keeping him interested, and his chances of accidentally doing the wrong thing. Nothing good could come out of this in her eyes, but Derek of course saw it differently.

He figured that he could test out being with another girl, and if he had thoughts wandering toward Casey then he would of course want to remain with Casey. Derek didn't want to get in too deep with Casey and realize he should've chosen a different route. In the back of his mind he tried to convince himself that it was just the fear of commitment, but his mind told him that he would know by instincts. They got him this far, and then of course Casey twisted the instincts into thought.

Today was Friday, and though the thought of another girl kissing him was tantalizing, he couldn't deny that he didn't want to hurt Casey. Deciding that he would stick to his own plan of instinct, he brushed off any thought of hurting someone's feelings.

Derek jumped off of his bed in frustration then got on the computer. He searched around for music to listen to, and then absorbed himself in the familiar world of hard rock with words that don't matter.

A knock continued to sound on the door, but he was still wrapped in his own world just as he had been since ten in the morning. It was now two 'o clock. George walked in after he realized that Derek was probably listening to music on headphones, and then signaled Derek to take them off.

"Rachel called. She is on her way here, are you ready?" Derek looked down and saw that he was still in PJ's.

"No, but I will be in a minute."

"Okay, just come downstairs when you are." Derek nodded his head, and George left the room. When the door shut he took off his clothes quickly and put on a red shirt with another button up shirt over it, except without buttoning it. He put on his best pair of jeans then went across the hall to the bathroom.

Casey walked in, just looking at him with a dreadful look. Derek turned away from the mirror and shut the door.

"Yes Case?"

"Please cancel it before she gets here." Casey crossed her arms.

"I can't. My Dad thinks he's helping."

"So! That never stopped you before!"

"If I cancel, he will do something drastic, like, take me to counseling. I don't do counseling." She rolled her eyes at him. "I won't do anything, okay Casey. Will you quit freaking on me please?"

"I am NOT freaking on you!" She said in a low whisper. Derek raised his eyebrows and she turned away. "I'm just not comfortable with all of this. Maybe we should tell them." His eyes snapped up to hers and he didn't look away or speak for a few moments.

"No. We keep this our secret, remember?"

"Yeah and what about being faithful to your girlfriend?" Derek had a jolt of realization shoot through him. Casey is my girlfriend. Casey …Is my girlfriend. He hadn't thought of it that way before. It was like reality had sucker-punched him in the face with the cold truth.

"Girl-f-friend?" He stuttered out. She gave him a twisted look of confusion and sadness.

"Yeah. Girlfriend. Do you not want me? Is that it?" She started to walk out before he could answer. He pressed her up against the bathroom door with his whole body, and then left room between them for her to turn around.

"Remember Casey? I said I only wanted you. My word is as good as my charm. I thought you knew that." Casey bit her lip and looked down.

"Yeah, but things change…They always change. We didn't always hate each other, but we won't always love each other." He leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Can you do something for me?" She shook her head yes. "For once, could you not think?"

"But I can't stop thinking." She pushed him gently off of her. "I'm not you, remember?" He smirked. Derek remembered her saying that before, but he couldn't remember when or why. He leaned back on her, and she leaned against the door with ease.

"Derek, I can't stop thinking because it's what I am. I am a thinker. I can't be something I'm not."

"I'm not asking you to quit forever…I'm telling you to stop to save you heartache."

"What does that mean?"

"That means, if you stop thinking so long and hard about it, maybe you wouldn't be freaking out like you are." She pushed him off roughly.

"I'm NOT freaking!" He smirked and leaned down to kiss her, but she persisted in pushing him away.

"Just stop Casey! Not everything has to be thought about!"

"Yes. Everything does."

"Well do you have to think 'breathe-in breathe-out' in order to breathe?" Her mouth dropped, and then she uneasily closed it. His eyebrows rose in her defeat, and he smiled. "Just stop thinking the worst is going to happen." Casey crossed her arms and looked down.

"You're a jerk." He let out a small laugh, lifted her chin up, and left a small kiss on her lips. Derek left the bathroom, and Casey, and then headed downstairs to wait for Rachel.

The moment he reached the end of the stairs, the doorbell rang, and he went to answer it without missing a step. A girl stood there smiling a toothy smile, and her hair was long and brown, with blue eyes that shone out in obvious attraction. She wasn't shy with her wardrobe either. The girl wore a tight green shirt that had no sleeves, and a short jean skirt. She had a lot of jewelry draping down her neck and wrists. His eyes wandered down and he saw an anklet on her left ankle. She was wearing green heels. Derek smirked as she stuck out a hand.

"I'm Rachel." She stated cheerily.

"I'm Derek." Her head nodded.

"So, you're the cutie my mom hooked me up with?"

"Guess so." He smirked. She looked down, blushing. "Why'd your mom set you up?"

"Why'd your dad set you up?" He remained silent. "I think it's best we keep their reasons to our self." Rachel smirked at him and let herself in the house, brushing past him. George and Nora walked into the room and saw that Rachel was here. George smiled and stretched out a greeting hand.

"Welcome to the Venturi-MacDonald household." Casey and Lizzie started down the stairs and Marti and Edwin got up from the couch to stand in front of the guest. Derek rolled his eyes. Formalities are such a drag.

"We have a reservation for you two at a local restaurant. George will take you there after me and you talk." Nora chimed in. Derek looked uneasily at Casey, and then stood next to Rachel as though he knew her well. Rachel gave him a flirty glance then followed Nora into the kitchen.

"Derek you come with me." Derek followed his Dad up the stairs and into his room.

"Yeah?"

"Okay. So what do you think of her?" He pictured Rachel in his mind, but she slowly morphed into Casey, then the moment formed into Casey wrestling with him, bouncing around, rubbing against him. "Derek?"

"Sorry. Yeah, she's pretty."

"I thought you would like her. Now, she has been through a lot, but her mom says she's really nice. So make sure you are a gentleman."

"Dad, with the ladies, I'm always a gentleman." His Dad smiled at him, knowing that deep down Derek was a good guy. They left the room and Rachel was sitting in Derek's chair. She got up when she saw him, then George rallied them into the backseat of his car and took them to the restaurant.